August 31, 2006
Tough day for Dinosaur Jr.
Dinosaur Jr. had its gear stolen from a trailer outside of a Long Island City, N.Y., hotel Tuesday night, but, troopers that they are, the band members still played its concert at Toad's Place Wednesday night.
Bassist Low Barlow asked for the crowd's patience as apparently they were not armed with the instruments they were used to.
In spite of the setback, Dinosaur Jr., wit all three original members - J. Mscis and Murph are the other two - put on a heck of a good show. So good, in fact, that if you didn't know about the band's troubles beforehand, you probably wouldn't have even noticed.
Dinosaur Jr. has asked for the public's help, so here is a list of the stolen items, in case they happen to make their way to a pawn shop near you:
Guitars:
1959 Fender Jazzmaster SN# 38927 - decal coming off. cracked headstock at top near low E peg. color black with purple/bluish sparkle coming through. adonized pick guard gold metal. tuneomatic bridge gold, tuning pegs gold.
1961-3 Fender Jazzmaster SN# 62012 - purple sparkle, black pickup covers. headstock repaired, a whole new piece of wood was glued on for the top part of the headstock under the tuners and up a 1/2" , along the whole top of the headstock. gold tuneomatic bridge, gold tuners
1964-5 Fender Jazzmaster SN# L21581 - orange, white pearl pickguard, stickers all over it, original tuners.
Fender Purple Jazzmaster new SN# R074329 - purple sparkle with matching headstock gold adonized guard tuneomatic bridge.
Rory Gallagher Stratocaster new SN# R25507 - has a big gold grover tuning peg on low E
Rickenbacker 197? Fireglo Bass SN# 4001 - checker-board binding.
B.C. Rich Warlock Bass SN# 4242413
Cymbals:
[1] Paiste 20" 2002 medium
[1] Paiste 20" giant beat
[1] Paiste 20" 2002 crash
[2] Paiste 19" 2002 crash
[2] Paiste 15" 2002 sound edge top hi-hats
[1] 15" 2002 sound edge bottom hi-hats
Also a Custom pedal board with custom audio electronics RS-10 foot controller, Teese RNC2 wah pedal, boss stage tuner, mute box, and cables. And one black backpack with Sony headphones, tools, etc.
If you hear or see anything, call the band's management at (303) 998-0001.
Posted by Sean on 6:37 PM | Comments (0)
August 22, 2006
I'm bad, I'm nationwide
Nearly two weeks have passed and I’m still getting e-mails from Black Crowes fans upset that I called their band “ghastly� in a recent column. Who knew the Crowes’ faithful could be so touchy?
Daniel Sweeney wrote to tell me how my quote “was posted on the chat forum on their official website. Seems your catty little post is garnering quite the response from the Crowes faithful.�
After writing of his love of music and how special he thinks the Crowes are, he said “it was with absolute contempt that I read your bitchy comment, calling the band “Ghastly.� I bet without the aid of a dictionary, you would be unable to even define that word.�
C’mon, everybody knows ghastly means to be filled with ghast, right?
It was all in fun, I thought, until Dan hit below the belt, relating how his girlfriend said, “He probably listens to music produced by the contestants on American Idol,� before signing off with “Good luck with your little career, clown.�
Now Dan, I may be a clown, but I’m proud to say that I haven’t watched a single episode of “American Idol� and the first time I heard Taylor Hicks sing was in those car commercials.
Finally, this from Brian O’Connell, cleaned up for the kids who may stumble upon this post:
“Your [sic] a [expletive deleted] moron. I can’t believe they give consumers [huh?] like you a platform.�
He closed with, “You must be a boomer whose testosterone has hit rock bottom. Try informing yourself.�
I’m not old enough to be a boomer, my testosterone level is normal, but I’ll work on informing myself until I can come up with an opinion that matches yours.
Seriously, Black Crowes fans, I was once one of you. I know how good the band was and how good it can be. I was in the crowd at Toad’s Place shortly after “Shake Your Money Maker� came out and at the Oakdale for the concert with Spacehog and Oasis.
That is probably why I was so stunned at how bad the Crowes’ performance was opening for Tom Petty last year.
Anyway, keep writing to express your displeasure with me if you want, but I’m moving on.
Maybe I’ll look into insulting this Hicks character. Think that might generate some e-mails?
Posted by Sean on 10:18 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2006
No points for originality
I spent a good chunk of my Friday night at Cafe Nine in New Haven to see Boston's Muck and the Mires, a group that won a recent battle of the bands competition on Little Steven's Underground Garage.
I figured that the exalted status of Little Steven and his satellite radio program would help pull in a few dozen people and the room would be filled with others just looking for a night of straightforward rock 'n' roll or to see local bands Groovski and The Vultures.
The cover charge was just $5, so it should have been a hopping night at "The Musicians Living Room," as the club bills itself. Not really.
The music was great, the beers were cold, but the crowd was somewhat lacking. Doesn't anybody search out live, original music anymore? It kills me that people will spend half of their Friday nights waiting to get into one of the trendy discos in New Haven, while there are actual musicians performing original music at nearby clubs.
This isn't just a New Haven issue as Fairfield County venues that specialize in original music also aren't getting the customers one would expect for their shows.
I worry about the futures of music venues that don't bother with cover bands or DJs and try to bring an assortment of live shows to area clubs - such as Cafe Nine, Acoustic Cafe in Bridgeport, Toad's Place, etc. It seems that people are getting accustomed to just listening to what the radio monopolies put out there without bothering to search for the music they might like.
For me, it was always a thrill to fall in love with an artist or a band that was relatively unknown and, occasionally, watching with some smug sense of pride as people started to catch on and the band's fan base started to grow.
With all the ways that wide varieties of music can come into our lives nowadays (Internet, satellite radio, etc.), you would think that live shows should be thriving as more music-lovers can find out about these bands before they come to town. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case and it could be a struggle for rock clubs to survive.
So, let's hear from you. Why aren't more people going to check out original music at our area nightclubs?
Posted by Sean on 4:03 AM | Comments (1)
August 15, 2006
Sharing the love
Every now and then, I write something that will offend a reader and I'll get a lovely letter trying to show me the error of my ways. In the Aug. 10 edition of my weekly Music Beat column, I referred to The Black Crowes as "ghastly," which didn't sit well with reader Sloke Lizard.
He writes: "Shame on you for taking the time out to describe The Black Crowes - one of the very few bands left on this planet playing authentic rock and roll - as ghastly! Did you really feel you had to point out your typical head-up-his-#@!&-journalist's opinion of them? Next time, take the high road and don't say anything at all. I think 'Rolling Stone' is looking for a guy like you, since they don't know what they're talking about 99% of the time, either!
- The Lizard"
Well, thanks for writing Mr. Lizard, but I'll stand by my opinion as the band's opening performance at last year's Tom Petty concert was one of the worst I have ever had the displeasure to have witnessed.
Posted by Sean on 7:51 PM | Comments (2)
August 14, 2006
Get out of Dodge
Before heading to Saturday night's Allman Brothers/Tom Petty concert at the Dodge Music Center in Hartford, I talked with my sister-in-law, who was going to the show with her two sisters. They bought $35 lawn tickets because they didn't want to drop $85 on the concert.
I told her, "You're better off not going than sitting on the lawn," but she figured, "How bad could it be?"
She found out.
Upon returning home, I checked my messages and she had called at 10:15, saying she was already halfway home and that they left the show before Tom Petty even hit the stage. I believe the words she used were "disgusted" and "mortified." She didn't expect to be subjected to the thousands of drunk kids walking on their blanket, stepping on their feet and, most disturbingly, urinating whenever and wherever they felt like. Not to mention the clouds of marijuana smoke.
Worst of all, there's nobody to complain to up on the lawn. There is no police presence up there and there didn't seem to be anybody from the venue brave enough to venture onto the lawn to keep any semblance of order.
Apparently, it's a young person's game up on the lawn and most likely these are the kids that started tailgating hours before the show at the various parking lots surrounding the Dodge.
I'm really not the prude I might sound like, but aren't there limits? Why do people who want to go and see a show have to deal with drunken idiots?
I just find it hard to believe that the Hartford Police don't know or don't care about the activities happening on the lawn and in the parking lots before and after concerts. And it will probably take a seriously unfortunate event before there are any changes to the anything-goes policy now in place.
That's why I stick to this line of thinking in regards to the Dodge Music Center: "If I go to will call and my ticket says lawn, I'm gone."
Posted by Sean on 6:45 PM | Comments (5)
